Last season, Germyn reached the goal thousands upon thousands of Canadian youngsters dream about.

With a handful of players in sick bay, Germyn was summoned for a couple of games for the Flames -- one against the Edmonton Oilers and the other versus Detroit.

"It took a while, actually, to sink in. Back home, the whole town was watching it," said Germyn, the 24-year-old right wing from Campbell River, B.C.

"I feel I'm that much closer."

His two games were rather inauspicious -- no points, no penalty minutes -- save for a hard check that toppled towering Red Wings defenceman Cory Cross, who stands 6-ft. 5-in., more than six inches taller than Germyn.

"All my buddies back home were saying they saw it on TSN in the highlights. It was pretty exciting," Germyn said. "It's great having your buddies congratulating you and then you go home -- it's a small town Campbell River -- and they're all excited. It was good."

However, his hockey season wasn't the biggest story in his Vancouver Island hometown.

Rod Brind'Amour, on the heels of winning the Stanley Cup with Carolina, also hails from Campbell River, meaning Germyn's success story was overshadowed.

"He has a golf tournament for Cystic Fibrosis every summer and I got invited to that," said Germyn, who collected 24 goals and 31 assists with the Knights last year.

"He and Mike Commodore were there and we golfed the same holes, so it was pretty cool to talk to him with the Stanley Cup there. "

Germyn, who signed his qualifying offer this summer and has a one-year, two-way contract, will be in tough to make the Flames out of training camp but he'll be counted on to help lead a Knights team with bigger expectations and a plethora of young players.

"Even if I get sent down, I want to be the first guy to get called up if there are injuries."